Conares achieves sustainability certification from UK body

The UAE’s only private sector steel manufacturer now will be able to provide independent guarantee on environmental performance of its steel products.

DUBAI- April 17, 2014: Conares, the leading provider of downstream steel products in the region, has received Sustainable Constructional Steel Certification by the UK Certification Authority for Reinforcing Steels (CARES) for its rebar manufacturing division. This is for operating a documented environmental management system that satisfies the requirements of ISO 14001.

The Sustainable Reinforcing Steel Certification scheme provides Conares an independent certification of the environmental performance of steel products. This will also allow Conares rebar to be easily compliant to ESTIDAMA, BREEM, LEED requirements.

Receiving the global certification, Mr. Bharat Bhatia, CEO- Conares, said, “We are proud of achieving the Sustainable Constructional Steel Certification. Now constructional steel products made by Conares are fully traceable, from production to delivery. Being the leading provider of downstream steel products in the Gulf market and beyond, Conares adopts measures to focus on reducing the impact on the environment, with its energy-efficient and environment-friendly steel mills.” 

“The Sustainable Constructional Steel Certification is a testimony on our commitment to adapt sustainable standards in manufacturing of reinforcement bars that facilitate the region’s infra-development sector, eventually contributing to the economy and supporting the measures to reduce eco-footprint,: he added. 

“We are always on the lookout for growth and development of the construction and steel industries with the implementation of modern procedures and bringing an evolution in the tools and techniques. Using rebars produced by our mill enables the industry to demonstrate the responsible sourcing of construction products and its commitment to sustainable development,” Mr. Bhatia further said. 

According to him, reinforcing steel products produced by Conares are fully traceable and uniquely identifiable, allowing a chain of custody throughout the whole supply chain, from mill to site. 

“This unbroken chain provides an assurance that sustainability is being pursued in their supply chain, so allowing the end-user to know the source and manufacturing processes used as well as the post-industrial use, recovery and recycling processes,” he elaborated. 

The dynamic framework of Sustainable Reinforcing Steel Certification scheme by UK CARES is aimed at improving the energy and environmental performance of products and providing a robust and transparent mechanism for communicating the environmental performance of steel products to designers, specifiers and clients. The environmental criteria were developed by a group of industry experts, and cover the entire supply chain from the production of the steel through its processing to the delivery of the finished product to the construction site. 

“The implications of this changing approach to decision-making in construction procurement are that the supply chain must be able to clearly demonstrate it is managing these issues to improve sustainability performance. The Sustainable scheme is formally set up to do this through its scope, objectives, principles and the way it operates.” Mr. Bhatia said. 

“Focusing on sustainable infrastructure development, we introduced Continuously Galvanized Reinforcement, a first-of-its-kind sustainable approach in the Middle East region towards the infrastructure development,” Mr. Bhatia concluded.  

Conares has set benchmarks in the steel processing industry, competing in the domestic, regional and the global markets including the North America, Europe and Australia. The company supports the region’s infrastructure development sector with world-class steel products through long-term partnerships.

The company’s exports account for over 20 per cent of its total production and its main export destinations include the MENA region, the European and the US region. The share of export shipments in the sales structure traditionally exceeds 20 per cent.